JOURNAL OP MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



creation. With the above interesting- 

 mate rial, together with numerous 

 other papers of interest, and with the 

 work a little better divided, and other 

 improvements which we have in 

 mind, we shall endeavor to give our 

 readers a volume of much greater 

 value than the previous year. 



NOTES ON THE FINCHES FOUND 

 IN MAINE. 



By Arthur H. Norton. 



(Continued from Vol 5, p 52.) 



Passer dontesticus (Linn). English 

 Sparrow. 



This introduced species is an abun- 

 dant resident of the cities and larger 

 villages throughout the state, and by 

 means of railroads and stage lines it 

 has to some extent penetrated to the 

 wilderness, making its abode at the 

 settlers' premises. 



An interesting case of a pair having 

 built a nest in a freight car, and ac- 

 companying it on its trip from some 

 western point, to Portland, Maine, 

 was given bj^ Mr. J. Merton Swain in 

 the Maine Spoi-tsman. (Me. Sportsm., 

 June 1897, p. 6.) 



As Maine farmers are not to an im- 

 portant extent devoted to grain cul- 

 ture, it seems that this bird of doubt- 

 ful value should not be despised, on 

 account of its weed destroying habits. 

 Like all of its family it is to some de- 

 gree insectivorous, destroying many 

 insects of neutral value, and some 

 harmful ones, including grasshoppers, 

 and caterpillars of Vanessa antiopa. 

 It is an interesting and significant 

 fact that while our native finches 

 have not yet learned to open the 

 seeding heads of the introduced dan- 

 delion. Taraxacum taraxacum with 

 ease, the English Sparrow is not only 

 an expert in opening the heads but 

 in some quarters, at least, has a keen 

 appetite for the seed. A few of our 

 native species also relish these seeds, 

 and glean after their foreign rela- 

 tives, or labor at a disadvantage for 

 themselves. 



This matter was carefully treated 

 by Mr. Sylvester D. Judd in 1898, in 

 the Yearbook of the U. S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, pages 223-224. 



*Judci. Birds as Weed Destroyers. 



The article* was also reprinted and 

 should be read by all students inter- 

 ested in the economic value of birds. 



Loxia curvirostra minor (Brehm.) 

 American or Red Crossbill. 



While this bird is a permanent resi- 

 dent of the state, it is in many local- 

 ities very irregular in its occurrence, 

 and perhaps nowhere to be found at 

 all seasons. 



In general it may be said to be of 

 common occurrence throughout the 

 state, more so than the next, but less 

 extensively gregarious in its move- 

 ments in the southern part of Maine. 



Mr. Eugene P. Bicknell in 1880 in 

 an important paper on the breeding 

 of this bird quoted Mr. G. A. Board- 

 man as informing him that "Th6 nest 

 has been found in thick trees, also 

 hard wood trees, and in holes." 

 Further he quotes from the same au- 

 thority that it "Is a very common 

 breeding bird all through the forests 

 of Northern Maine from January to 

 July, but not every year." Bull. 

 Nutt. Orn. Cb. v, pp 9-10. 



New data has been accumulated 

 sufficient to show that its season of 

 reproduction extends into August, 

 while there seems to be no record of 

 its breeding between August and 

 January following. 



On August 21, 1897, I found a few 

 pairs on Littlejohn's Island, Casco Bay, 

 which seemed to be engaged in 

 breeding duties, and they certainly 

 were in physical condition to do so. 

 It probably breeds, with more or less 

 frequency from this point easterly 

 along the coast, as its occurrence es- 

 pecially upon the islands has been 

 detected too often in summer to be 

 regarded as sporadic. Specimens 

 collected at Aliens Island, one of the 

 St. George Islands, St. George, Maine, 

 June 21, 26, 1895, seemed nearly ready 

 to breed. It is rather common in the 

 scrub pine groves at Pine Point and 

 Scarborough Beach, often remaining 

 to the last of April or early May. 



The sudden appearance of flocks of 

 considerable size in summer in south- 

 ern Maine is a phenomena well 

 known to bird observers. 



The name of Screwbill applied to it 

 in some parts of the lumber regions 

 is probably shared by the next 

 species. 



Loxia leucoptera. (Gmel.) White - 

 winged Crossbill, Spruce bird. 



Like the last this bird occurs irreg- 



